We have some good stuff in this Newsletter Edition:An interview with the well known Serbia, a TPA Update, an interview with Azak848 in "Meet the Tournament Winners", and another update for the CC2 (Conqueror's Cup 2) by Leehar.

Mafia is a popular and thriving area of the CC forums that has it's own sub-forums. It is a game of intelligence, deception and quick wittedness so if that peaks your interest be sure to check it out!

Newbie HelpWant to get into the Mafia scene, but don't know how to play or even what it is? Consult these threads: Mafia Information, Mafia and You, and Rules and Terms of Mafia.Too much work? Too lazy to read through everything? No worries, you can always jump right into a game and ask for other players or the game runner to help guide you.

What is "Mafia"?Mafia, for those of you that don't know, is a game that generally takes place in a town, where the townspeople have to determine who the mafia (or "scum") is and lynch them via a majority vote during the day and the mafia try to kill everyone at night and bluff their way out of getting killed by the town.

Mafia News

The mafia forums have been ticking away nicely as usual with lots of activity in all the big games. As promised, an in depth look at a game will today be on The Big Lebowski Mafia. Since our last edition of the newsletter, a lot has happened in this game. Firstly, there was a no lynch on the day three due to indecision who to lynch. This is never good for the town and this indecision may be the towns downfall. Sure enough in the night, Strike Wolf - the town vigilante Walter was killed. A deathly blow for the town. However, things seemed to be looking up when Anarkistsdream called out Haggis as scum but when Haggis laid the blame on spiesr, it ended up being spiesr who took the fall! Sadly, for the town - spiesr turned out to be the narrator and the mayor. The game has now moved into the night phase but can the town now recover from this mistake? Is a victory for the mafia now imminent? Keep following the game and find out!

Mafia CalloutsCalling all players interested! Some mafia games need some filling:

When voting for someone, what order you vote them is very important. Generally, the first vote on a person is considered safe. However, the subsequent votes (#3, 4 and 5) can be seen as bandwagonning someone, especially if the same person does it several times.

Example

John makes a case on Jack and votes him. Sarah votes him next, and Alex votes him third. Alex's votes could be considered bandwagonning.

How to Use this Strategy

Bandwagonning is a classic scum tactic because it keeps them under the radar while appearing to be actively participating. Bandwagonning is a necessary evil, especially in the early part of the game, because evidence is generally pretty scarce. However, if the same person bandwagons repeatedly, it can used as evidence that the person is mafia. Since game sizes change, a good rule of thumb is that the middle votes in a lynch are most suspicious, the first vote generally is not suspicious if a proper case was presented, and the last (or hammer) vote is usually not suspicious if the accused is given time to defend him/herself and claim.

Q. Hey There Serbia!Interesting. I'm the one who took you there. I'm your life, and I no longer care.

Q. Why did you select the username "Serbia," while being a passionate Detroit fan?Well, the easy answer is that my Grandmother was Serbian, I have relatives on that side of the family who can speak the language, so it's part of my heritage. To get to the root of the tale, however, it is naturally going to involve a girl. Back 16, 17 years ago or so, I used to use ICQ for instant messaging a lot, and I frequently changed my user name. I was chatting with a friend of mine, who happened to be a cute girl, asking for her opinion on my latest name change. I mentioned "Serbia", and she liked it, told me it was cute. That was all the incentive I needed to go by Serbia; and it's been my user name on everything ever since.

Q. Have you ever visited Serbia (the country) or any other former Yugoslavian nations?Never. In fact, the only international traveling I've done has been driving south to Canada, or flying to England. Would like to go one day.

Q. Just who the hell do you think you are?Сергей Викторович Фёдоров. I've even been known to introduce myself as Sergei, which is only fitting.

Q. How did you come across ConquerClub?A friend of mine used to play here, Big Jon. He told my step-brother about the site (AltecGT), and I found out from him, and joined up. 5 years ago.

Q. Were you addicted instantly?Yes.

Q. Have you always been interested in Risk like games? Play Risk as a younger Serbia?Always. There is a picture of me floating around somewhere here with me showing off my brand new Risk board game I got for Christmas as a kid. I played as often as I could, which became less and less frequently, because I usually won. But I've always loved this type of game. Any type of conquest game was something I loved.

Q. What got you interested in hosting tournaments?I love tournaments. I love stats. I love competition. The reason I bought premium in the first place was to play in tournaments. I love any type of tourney. Playing a single game is meaningless for me. I'd rather it be a league, a tourney, I want the games to count towards something more than a somewhat subjective score. Makes the site 100x more interesting for me.

Q.Would you like a drink?Vodka and tonic please, with a lime. And good stuff, no cheap Smirnoff for me.

Q.What is the biggest meal you have ever eaten?When my mother got remarried, I think I was around 12 years old, she had the reception at a buffet (the old Sveden House chain, for those of you who remember it). Was the first time I'd ever been at a buffet. I think I was just hitting puberty (no lie, I started shaving before I turned 13, seeing as I am an OSYMAT) and I went NUTS on that buffet. I got myself 4 plates of dinner, before getting 4 desserts, then 2 more dinner plates, then 4 more desserts, along with about 10 glasses of pop (and I was a scrawny little feller). Gorged myself until I nearly got sick. Have never eaten that much at one time ever again. The desserts were mostly soft serve ice cream and puddings, the meals though had carved beef, chicken legs, Swedish meatballs, veggies, bread, macaroni and cheese, potatoes... anything, I ate it all.

Q. How long is your friendship branch? Does it extend to all peoples of the Earth?That would be telling. And besides, I don't wanna be your monkey wrench, it would just be one more indecent accident.

Q. What do YOU see in Trinicardinal's avatar? (Not SnakeySnakey).This is a question which bears repeating the behavior which many find most disturbing, the knocking of factual intelligence gathering between Dr. Hoke and the rest of the team are looking forward to the home opener at Michigan Stadium this autumn. Once and forthwith, upon my arrival at Heathrow, indications were rampant that the beaver which was rabid in Philadelphia had to be put down. Three were bitten recently, including Patrice Bergeron. At the slightlest dachshunds make exceelnt pets, But again and when the Jordanians were put on high alert Sunday due to sporadic violence resulting in massive Preview Submit Disable BBCode Disable smilies Smilies are ON Caution! This office requires OSHA4Less.com Keeping you compliant And quite possibly, though I'm not 100% sure, but it might just be a urine stain-pattern from an overly aggressive donkey. Amirite? Contains: Toluene, acetone and xylene, fluorexcents contain hexane. Vapor harmful attack! Bringing the grand total to $5,000 that has gone missing, unaccounted for, from our budgetary restraints. Cialis, Viagra, July, junebugs. Name 3 things that are merely small, yet are not tiny. Dolphins not included, though tuna is free with any purchase of seven live Ligers, which are the best animal ever, with the exception of the Honey Badger.

Q. When you come to Live Chat, is your behaviour compulsive or mandatory in some way? Explain.In the United States, the "u" is superfluous, which is a bit odd, seeing as we couldn't even spell our nation's proper name correctly without using a "u".

Q. Can you pluck like bungle?Fancy a bum?

Q. Does SnakeySnakey know that you are doing this interview?Who?

Q. Has SnakeySnakey given you permission to do this interview?Come on, abuse me more I like it. Come on, keep talking cause it's true.

Q. What are you going to do with your pics of jake?<mod edit> reason given: pornography

Q. Why are you always so Silly?Why is silly capitalized in this question? Is Silly now my name?They call me herThey call me StaceyMaybe JoliesaIt's all the sameThat's not my nameThat's not my nameThat's not my nameThat's not my name

Q. I heard that you got caught doing something illicit with Sully - care to expand on that?That is personal information, and I won't be sharing. My next ban is going to be a monther. I'm hellbent on being banned for something even more ridiculous than the singular use of the word "moron", in the off-topics forum, in a SPAM THREAD known as Spamalot. Speaking of which, when is that going to get taken off my record? Because you can be DAMN SURE that I'm going to get myself banned for calling notyou2 a "meanie" one day.

Q. Who is the funniest live chat regular (not counting SnakeySnakey)?Would either have to be Honibaz or Army of GOD, who's currently banned, because some people have no sense of humor.

Q. Can I have some pics of trippy? I'd suggest you go find some magic mushrooms and take your camera along with you. Better yet, bring a friend, and you can both have some 'shrooms, and take pictures of each other. I'd imagine you couldn't get a lot more trippy than that.

Q. As an American who loves hockey, do you find yourself defending the sport a lot? Or can you just not be bothered by people who chose to remain ignorant? Has Trippy become a fan of hockey and conversely has she tried to convert you to soccer? This is probably my favorite question. Being in Detroit, I don't often have to defend the sport. Most people here consider themselves a "fan" on some level or another. Detroit is called Hockeytown, and we definitely have a large, strong fanbase, but we also have quite a few "Atlanta Braves Fans". There have always been people here who say "I love the Wings, but let me know when the playoffs start", then it becomes "I just can't get interested in hockey unless they make the 2nd round" and even now, you're getting people who say "if the Wings don't make the Conference Finals, I don't pay any attention". So yeah, we've got some fake fans, but few people who flat out hate the sport in this town. Or at least, they're smart enough to keep their mouth shut. But when I do happen to come across an American who doesn't like hockey, can't stand that it's on ESPN at all, and only talks about the sport when something bad happens (think Bertuzzi or McSorley), then I simply can't be bothered by them. Hockey is, in the USA, a niche sport, and honestly, I'm fine with that.

Tripi does enjoy watching the Wings with me. She's not as bothered about the rest of the playoffs (now that the Wings are out), but being the great wife she is, doesn't complain at all. As for soccer, I already had some interest in the game, limited to the World Cup or Euro though, when I support England, Serbia, and the USA (WC only obviously).

Q. How do you reconcile your friendship branch with your statements in live chat RE:

10:50:11 ‹Serbia› 1 - I'm a Dark Lord, so it's important I look evil10:50:46 ‹Serbia› 2 - I'm amazingly good looking, but I don't need women throwing themselves at me - I'm a Dark Lord, so I need to spread fear and loathing, not horniness

Also could you please clarify the statements listed below

10:49:47 ‹Serbia› I'm not saying it looks good10:49:54 ‹Serbia› I'm just saying it's about 2" long

Ok, first things first. Dark Lord, and friendship branch. Right. Why does that need any reconciliation? if I'm a Dark Lord, then can't I use any tool I choose for my own nefarious purposes? Just because I have a friendship branch, doesn't mean I'm not using it for evil.

As far as clarifying the other statements, I don't see what the confusion is. Things that are stumpy can look good, can't they? Besides, I think our readers are smart enough to know what we're talking about here.

Q. What is your word?This is my word.

Q. What would you like for dinner?Something edible, something I would find delicious (dog may be edible, but I won't want it), something not terribly healthy, something that is not made with bananas, and nothing that Victor Sullivan has touched first. And preferably, something Tripitaka has made, because she's pretty much the greatest cook in the whole of the universe.

Q. For how long does your wife scold you for wasting time on a "stupid internet game"? You don't know me well, do you? I met my wife on this "stupid internet game", so it would be rather hypocritical of her to get on my case about it. (obviously, I married smart, eh?)

Q. Did you like the movie Malcolm X?Never saw it.

Q. How did you and tripi know that it was time to meet in real life? Were you nervous?Boy, how did we know? The relationship just built up slowly, over time. We spent over a year talking, before we ever met. And it just felt like the timing was right. She came over for Christmas '09. And I was very nervous, right up until we met. Within 5 minutes, it was totally natural. The meeting just confirmed what we thought we knew before we met - we wanted to be together. And for those of you who don't know, Tripitaka is the Trippy/Tripi that everyone is talking about.

Q. Will jakewilliams ever stop spamming your interrogation thread?Yes. As soon as it was locked, he stopped spamming.

Q. If you were stranded on a deserted island with Army of GOD and Tripitaka, and had to choose one to eat, who would you choose (remember who your bestest friend in the whole wide world is)?Dude. If I'm getting rid of one of you, I'm going to<mod edit> reason given: sexual deviancy/acts too graphic in nature for a family sitethe other one 3 times a day, and 5 times each day I decide is Sunday (no calendar, so it's whenever I decide). I realize that is probably going to be severely edited too, so my apologies in advance. The thing is, I don't particularly want to eat another person... but I might always decide to kill you, just to break the monotony of not having anything to do. But AoG - I still love ya man.

Q. Tripitaka excluded, who on the site would you want to:A) have a beer with?B) punch in the face?C) be stranded on a desert island with?D) permanently ban?

A) I'll take three to start: Timminz, nagerous, ga7. We could call it The Four Nations. Except that would be extremely stupid.B) targetman377. But only in the hope that the brain damage would cause him to spell correctly.C) Jennifer Love Hewitt. (she's on the site, I know it, she knows it, but we're keeping her identity secret.)D) Norse. I know, he is already... but that way, I could do it again. (actually I'm just hoping his latest multi incarnation reads this, so he can try to harass me again. Also, I think they patterned James Cook's character off Norse; except they then made the character cool; or at least, when compared to Norse. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it; you aren't British)

Q. If Lack handed control of the site over to you for a week, what changes, if any would you make?First thing I'd do is clean up my ban record. There are a couple that I deserve (did some drunk spamming which I've got no problems owning) but there are a few, such as my legendary ban for the single use of the word "moron", which are an embarrassment to the site's disciplinary record. There is far worse flaming happening on a daily basis, yet "moron" earns a ban.Second thing I would do is pow wow with the Tournament Organizers and code writers, and come up with a PROPER fix for the Tourney Search in Game Finder. EDIT: that has since been accomplished. So the next thing I'd do is work hard at crafting a viable account sitting feature for the site.

Q. keiths31- We've already had a beer together. Next beer are you going to come up to Canada?I really ought to. Was hoping we'd win that trip to Thunder Bay, but haven't heard back yet. We should plan a road trip to Toronto to catch a Leafs game one day.

Q. f*ck ur gorgeous (no question)Yes, I am.

Q. What are your views on the new Tournament finder tool? Well, I have to change my rant now. With the latest update, the drop down bar is "pre-populated" with the tournaments that I'm running at any given time. Since this is mostly what us TO's want, an easy way to find our tourneys to check up on games, it works. The previous fixes, however, were bad; but no need to beat a dead horse over it at this point.

Q. How fond are you of ranting?I LOVE ranting. I rant all the time. I rant at everything. I rant at geese. I rant at spiders. I rant at CC, people on CC, people in general. I rant at TV shows that I carelessly turn on, leave on, and hate. Yet I rant anyway. I ranted when I first read this question. I rant at politics, I rant at sports. I've been known to rant when I'm happy and have nothing to rant about. Rant is a fun word to say, similar to "rat", but adding an 'n'. But my FAVORITE rant is ranting at other drivers. Most people cannot drive - this is fact. So there is nothing like putting on an album like System of a Down's Toxicity, blasting it in my car, driving like a maniac on the highway while ranting at everyone else on the road. Also, here is my driving anthem: Offspring - Bad Habit

Q. You and Victor Sullivan are trapped in a room together. How do you get out and why?The "why" is easy; why in the hell would I want to be trapped in a room with him? I'd have to get out. So "how". First, I'll charge him, and try to ram his body through the wall. If that doesn't work, then I'll beat him to death in frustration. Also, gives me something to do while I think. I'll try to tear off some of his limbs (he won't need them now, right?) and use them to bash my way through the wall. If none of that works, I think I'll just give up on busting out, take one of his shoes, break the glass on the sliding patio door, and walk to freedom. Nothing against Sully, mind you... I'd do that to any guy. Were it a woman, however... as long as she's nice, fairly attractive, and not annoying, we'd probably just become great friends.

Q. What topping(s) do you like on your hot dogs?I've got different options.A) Coney sauce with onions and cheeseB) Ketchup (with or without onions)C) Mustard (with or without onions)Lately I've been on a Coney kick. Love me a couple coney dogs.

Q. Favourite beer?Killians is my standby. When going out, I will get Newcastle Brown Ale anytime I see it. Guinness is always a favorite. I've been to the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham, England, and I LOVE their Riggwelter, which is a dark ale. I've found it here in the States, but it doesn't taste quite the same. I like stouts and ales, and will try nearly anything. Lately I've been trying a lot of Leinenkugels; Sam Adams is another tried and true brand. Lagers I don't do often, I'll take a Corona, but that's about it, unless I'm at a party and have to drink some crap (though thankfully most people I know will have Labatts over Bud or Miller), and I would rather refuse beer than drink light beer.

Q. Thanks for your time Serbia!Hey, anytime! And remember, music soothes even the savage beast.

Hi again amigos and welcome to your favorite part of the Newsletter, "War Games", where you can find information about CC Tournaments.

On this edition of War Games, we have a "TPA Update" and "WCCL Series - Part 1", brought to you by angola, the "Join this? or Not!" by sonicsteve, and an Interview with Azak848 by Dukasaur in the "Meet the Tournaments Winners!".

Today I have the honor of presenting you with the winner of one of my own tournaments! azak848 won the DKs 3-3-3 tournament, a 27-player series which was first posted on March, 13th 2011 and was concluded on April, 10th 2011.

Okay, question one: What attracted you to this particular tournament?

Having only been a CC member for a couple months now I was looking for tournaments that were not huge and didn't have any crazy settings. DK's 3-3-3 was an excellent format consisted of played 3 player games which gave really good opportunities to everyone in the game to do well. Without having an excellent grasp of the many different maps and how they work it seemed perfect for me.

Yeah winning a tournament cup in your third month on CC is pretty impressive. I've talked to people who waited two or three years for their first win. Was it an exciting moment? Did you crack open a bottle of champagne or anything?

It was a very exciting moment for me, I couldn't believe it when I saw the invite to the final! There is a lot of strategy to winning a three player game, often whoever jumps out to an early lead gets teamed up on. Luckily I had a good drop (which never happens) and was able to protect a bonus long enough to sweep the board.

I saw that. You had Kingdom of Jerusalem sewn up after two turns, and from there on you were just a monster!

Third Crusade is a pretty complex map, but then you seem to like complex maps. I've looked through your games, and there seems to be a really big bias towards what most people would consider "difficult" maps. Why is that? Do you find the game too unchallenging on simple maps, or do you just really enjoy the "exploration" aspect of analyzing the tough ones?

When I first found Conquer Club I really liked the complex maps, bringing the sensation to the map that there is more to it then just who has the bigger stack. On most maps you only have two things working for you, your troop count and luck of the dice. Complex maps add a third variable: that you can have a smaller territory count and still be getting more troops every turn. The first tourney I joined on CC was Strain Your Brain hosted by TheCrown. He PM'd me asking if I was serious because I had only completed 30 games so far, I said I was up for the challenge and it's been down hill ever since!

Do you play a lot of war games other than CC? What were some of your favorites before coming here?

No, not really. I work on the road a lot, usually 60-80 hrs a week when I am working. Due to that I never had the chance to really get into anything. I played some Civilization and for awhile I was addicted to Evony. The problem was I could never commit the time. Most games like Evony are real time and so the more time you spent online the better and it became a real headache. When I found CC it was like a dream come true, a game where I could actually log on only once a day and take my turns and it was ok. If i know I have a busy week coming up I just don't join as many games. And if I find myself bored there are speed games.

I'm very curious about what you do, spending 60 to 80 hours a week (largely because that is my situation too.) What sort of work do you do?

I work for an oil and gas service company. I run specialized tools that go into oil and gas wells and am able to tell the customer an array of things from his pipe integrity as to how much gas he is getting from different areas. I work 15 days on and 6 off, which is a good schedule but I work across three provinces and usually 12 hour + days. I enjoy it though. It's just that it's hard when ?I'm /color]gone for a long time away from the family.

I see you've joined a Clan now too. How is that going?

I asked about clans in a game chat a couple months ago, just looking to find out more about them. I got an invite from one of the people in the game to join AOD. Joining AOD and getting to know the members of the clan has been a really positive experience. They have become in some ways my CC family, people to hang out with and chat with in between games. To be honest I have not even played in any clan war games yet. The real reason behind joining the clan was to meet people to play team games with. I have made many new friends and half of my active games are now team games with AOD members. It's a whole new side to CC for me and I am really enjoying learning new maps and how to play as a team, even if I still attack my teamates from time to time

Oh, been there and done that...

Of the different kinds of tournaments you've been in, what would you like to see more of, and why?

There are a lot of 1vs1 and 8 player tourneys. I wouldn't mind seeing a few more tourneys that use 3-5 player games. Here's why: In 1v1 a lot depends on the drop and first turn, after that it's skill. But there are a lot of 1vs1 tourneys. The big 8 player tourneys are usually escalating and then its a waiting game, getting the cards, and hoping you get lucking eliminating someone before you get eliminated. With a smaller amount of players there is opportunity for a lot more strategy. 3 player games can be especially hard because two players will usually gang up against whoever gets the early lead.What are your current CC goals?

CC Goals - 1. Participate in a clan war - and win! 2. Get my active games count down so I can enjoy the games more. 3. Get to know how to play more maps well.

Well, at this point it's your soapbox: anything and everything that you might want to mention. A shutout to one of your friends, or a criticism/comment of anything on CC, or even some homespun poetry...

First, special shutout to AOD members codierose, gambler21210 and murphy16 for their patience and all their hard work teaching me how to play team games! Beware Legion members - we are going to kick your butt in the upcoming clan war!

One concluding note: when I volunteered for this project, I offered to interview "all of the tournament winners." How naive I was! I had no idea what a staggering number of tournaments there really are. Now I know there is no way I will be able to get to everyone. I intend to publish one or two interviews in every edition of the Dispatch, but even so I will probably only get to talk to about 5 percent or so of all the winners. My approach will be partially random and partially targeted. Some will be chosen because of their fame or amazing stats, some will be chosen because I find the tournament they were in to be unusual or especially interesting, and many will be chosen completely at random. I will pay special attention to those that are winning a tournament for the very first time. If you are looking forward to telling the story of the exciting tournament that you were just in and want to be on my list, please feel free to PM me any time.

It is one of the last Large Team tournaments created, as Tournament Director Night Strike put a hold on them while medal issues are resolved.

Rodion's tournament features eight managers and 72 players, who were auctioned off to their teams. As the tournament progresses, the players can enter free agency and switch teams. It is a very non-typical tournament on CC and because of this, I thought we'd take a deeper look.

So, here is the first part of a multi-story series on this topic. We'll start with a quick Q 'n' A with the mastermind. Be sure and check back next Dispatch as I'll have some insight into the managers' strategy from the auction to how they are building their teams to free agency.

Q. Is this the first tournament you've run?

A. It's actually the 4th I've run, but the 1st in which I am not participating.

Q. Why did you decide to run such a massive tournament?

A. I wanted to run a social experiment. I was curious to see how many different approaches there would be and which one was going to be the most effective. As of today, the original auction has just ended. You will see there were teams committing a lot of their money in 1 or 2 star players and then having to give him/them a below average supporting cast. Others decided not to work so much in the extremes and preferred to load their team with solid players across the board. Let's see how it goes!

Q. How did you come up with the idea? Did it take awhile to formulate the idea?

A. I kinda of took the idea from a tournament called 313's InterClanGalactic War (from merch313). I liked his idea of people signing up individually and then being drafted by captains into teams. I decided to make this tournament because of 2 issues I had with his (I don't dislike his tournament, I'm having a lot of fun there. It's just that there were 2 things that kept it from being as much fun as it could be, in my opinion). First one, captains there also play, so even though his "snake draft" is supposed to be fair, some teams will have an advantage simply because some captains (and co-captains) are better than others. Second, after the draft was done the teams there were set in stone for the rest of the tournament. I wanted to do something dynamic to make my tournament more dynamic, with players continually striving for better salaries and managers having to make their budget suit their needs (just like in the NFL).

Q. Did you make spreadsheets in advance? How much time did you put into just getting the tournament up and going?

A. No, I don't know how to use excel! I might have to learn it soon, though. Making the rules was not as hard and time consuming as it probably seems, but it was pretty hard to get the draft started (I would have preferred to do it live and have it last about 3 hours, but we had a little - and by little I mean huge - timezone problem). I also took a lot of time updating the bids and checking how many hours were left before each player got sold (THAT was a boring job!).

Q. I noticed that a lot of people asked for clarifications on the thread long before the auction started. Did this surprise you? Or did you take it as constructive criticism?

A. At first, it always surprises me. I mean, I understood my own rules perfectly, so I thought other people would too, but it doesn't work that way! Sometimes I had to explain what I meant. Other times I had to make a ruling on things that hadn't been yet decided (I had more of a tournament "skeleton" ready, but many little decisions were made as people asked about them).

I don't see it as constructive criticism because they're essentially different things: clarification requests are doubts that have to be answered, while constructive criticisms are opinions on how something could be done better than it currently is being done.

To answer what I think you really wanted to ask, I don't mind questions or criticism. Since the tournament is complicated, I really wanted all doubts eliminated before we got started, rather than waiting for a concrete situation to arise and having to make a call that would leave some people confused/frustrated ("oh, so that's how this was supposed to be handled? ")

Q. The tournament directors canceled all future giant tournaments right after yours started accepting players. How concerned were you with that ruling? Were you automatically grandfathered in or did you have to convince the TD's to let your tournament continue? What are your feelings on giant tournaments in the future?

A. No concern at all. I was already having some discussions with Night Strike about how to make the tournament in compliance with the guidelines, so one of his PM's stated that the announcement he was about to make did not affect me. When the announcement was made, I read it out of curiosity, but I already knew I was grandfathered.

I really enjoy giant ("large team") tournaments! It's been fun to play Merch's InterClanGalactic and Lindax's TLO (even though I only joined it in week 10) and I always read the rules on new large team tournaments when they open (if I'm aware of them).

Q. You seem to be pretty involved in other aspects of CC - clans, losing to AOC, etc. Were you prepared for how much work this tournament was going to be? Do you question in hindsight undertaking such a large project?

A.

Well, I admit that it was a little too much to handle, but I'm hoping I'll be able to autopilot it for the next 2 weeks (until free agency starts).

This is our regular look at just a few of the tournaments currently in sign-ups:

CDLTexan has four completed tournaments under his belt and CDL's Terminator Championship looks to be a well thought out and structured event with a nice selection of maps. If you like 8-player terminator games then sign up quickly. 27 of the 64 slots were available at the time of going to press. Freemiums are welcome and will need to have 2 slots available during the tournament.

HA's 'Don't Blink' series is well established, with over 100 tournaments organized under the franchise so far. For those unfamiliar with the format, each event is a quick fire 16-man unseeded bracket tournament using Manual deployment. The series will eventually cover each CC's available maps, though the event available at the time of writing uses Random map selections. If HA's Don't Blink-Random Map-THREE is already full when you read this, don't worry - another Don't Blink event is sure to follow soon.

greenoaks has launched the 4th edition of his Keep It Simple, Stupid tournament, which as the title promises is a straightforward 1v1 elimination tournament. 32 players are needed and the map this time is Middle East.

Pole to Pole is a doubles tournament on both the Antarctic and Arctic maps co-hosted by Dibbler and Gunn217. There are currently 20 slots available out of 32. 16 teams will start on the Arctic map, and 16 on the Antarctic. Once each bracket has been played out, the final match will be played on Extreme Global Warming.

I hope you choose to join these wonderful tournaments and if you don't like any of these then go to the Create/Join a Tournament or Tournaments Tab and take a look at the other tournaments that are waiting to be filled.

If you can’t wait for one of these to fill and want to get some tourney action now, check out the Requests for Immediate Players section of the tournament forum.

Ahoy, there! Sully here again to bring you good news and bad. The bad news? The Foundry Featurette is delayed yet another week, this time due to No_Risk_No_Fun's having finals. The good news? OliverFA is back with another Classic Review, we have another thrilling Foundry Talk topic, and I got the privilege to interview Foundry old-timer, gimil. Enjoy, folks!

Nowadays, the Foundry is plenty of life. We enjoy a continuous stream of creativity and talent. Thanks to the effort of dedicated mapmakers, new additions are quenched regularly. And many more maps are in the works.

But there are also maps that were created long ago. Maps that despite having been with us for long time still feel fresh like the first day. Every day, many games are played on those maps. Those maps are true jewels that have stood the test of time. They are real Classics. They deserve our attention despite the time that has passed since they were created. Or maybe because of that.

Conquer Man a map by WidowMakers and Coleman

Until now, we have reviewed maps that represent geographic areas. Some of those maps are representations of our real world, and some others are representations of fantasy worlds. And you may ask “What else can they be?” Well, a map can represent almost anything, and not only a land or a world. That’s the case of this issue’s map, that represents no less no more than the board of an 1980s video game. We are talking about Conquer Man.

To be honest, I am no big fan of non-geographic maps. Despite I love originality, I hate when things are forced, because the result looks silly. But with Conquer Man, the result is something that it’s at the same time original and deserves to be played. In this map we play for the control of the famous video arcade screen. The best thing is that the original game mechanics have been incorporated to a Conquer Club in a way that respects the original concept, makes sense, and opens new and interesting ways of playing, creating a true mix.

The board transports us instantly to the 1980s maze of dark corridors with blue walls. Most of the regions are the dots that our Conquer Man needs to eat in order to get to the next level, but a few regions are special ones representing the game elements. There is the star, Conquer Man, who provides us with a small bonus for holding his starting position. There are the Diamonds that, like in the game, will provide us a small boost if we own them. But if you remember the original game, you will also remember that not everything was good. The ghosts… I mean… the aliens, cost you some reinforcements if you own their position. If you own an alien and Conquer Man at the same time, the cost is even higher. But if you manage to own Conquer Man, an alien, and the diamond of the matching colour, then you will get an even higher bonus. As you see, all the game mechanics nicely translated to Conquer Club.

Having a corridors map makes for an interesting gameplay. Instead of classic maps where regions are pretty open, here we have lots of regions only adjacent to the previous and the next region in the corridor. That’s an important difference. Control of the crossroads is a lot more important here than in regular maps, because those bottleneck spots are fewer and much more significant. To avoid making things too much closed, diamonds connect to each other, and aliens also connect to each other.

But the originality of this map did not end here. It also introduced the policy of applying the Diminishing Returns Law to the territories bonus. The more territories a player has, the more are needed to obtain the next reinforcement. This helps keeping things even because wide empires are less productive than small ones. But because reinforcements are reduced and not completely halted, there is always a reward for conquering one more territory.

As always, I recommend you to try a game or two in this map, and see by yourself why it is a true Classic.

gimil? Time Machine? What is this nonsense?!?...You may be thinking, if you're not a CC old-timer. gimil was a star in the Foundry "back in the day", moving maps along in the Foundry back when there were less "Boys in Blue" and the structure of the Foundry was less organized. I'll allow gimil to speak the rest for himself, as I got the honor of interviewing him:

‹Victor Sullivan› Heidi-ho!‹gimil› Hi Victor.‹Victor Sullivan› Alright, so you ready for this?‹gimil› Ready as I will ever be‹Victor Sullivan› Lol, okay‹Victor Sullivan› First question:‹Victor Sullivan› What was your association with the Foundry "back in the day"?‹gimil› Well Victor, if I remember correctly I was brought in to take a focus on the graphical aspect of mapmaking. This was very much the time when the foundry process was evolving into the machine it is today.‹gimil› I focused on graphics while oaktown who also started at the same time concentrated on game play.‹gimil› Back then the foundry was very much a mosh-pit of map ideas.‹gimil› We started (slowly) to turn it into the system or process it is today.‹Victor Sullivan› What memories, fond or otherwise, do you have of the Foundry while you were volunteering there?‹gimil› There are many prominent memories I have of the foundry. Probably too many to pick a favourite.‹gimil› I have met plenty of great people and had many (long) nights online chatting, throwing ideas, arguing and generally just having a good time.‹gimil› One that stands out just now is the memories when I first started volunteers.‹gimil› I worked with coleman, oaktown and andy.‹gimil› Those guys were great but working with coleman was probably one of my most enjoyable experiences. He was always hard-working and always had something interesting or sensible to say.‹Victor Sullivan› Cool. What drew you to the Foundry initially?‹gimil› My whole life I have always had an interest in art and design. When I first joined this site I was drawn to the forum between turns.‹gimil› Being a freemium I had plenty of time to spare.‹gimil› Having an artistic way to contribute to the site really appealed to me, so I quickly got Photoshop out.‹gimil› After finishing Portugal (my first map) I knew that I wanted to make another map, and another, and another.‹Victor Sullivan› I noticed that you were the "Advisor" for the CC Newsletter. What was that like? What did you do?‹gimil› Well I was sort of involved in the founding of the foundry newsletter way back when. If memory serves me correctly all the newsletters were eventually merged into one CC newsletter. I advised on that for a while but ultimately I don't think I contributed much. I was just a face that checked over what the editors were doing to make sure it was appropriate.‹gimil› More of a responsibility to make sure the newly formed CC news letter knew what to do in running a newsletter.‹Victor Sullivan› Why did you end up leaving the Cartographers Team?‹gimil› I never really wanted to leave. I guess the place evolved beyond me at the time.‹gimil› I got to a point where I wasn't as engaged in the foundry as I used to be and it only seemed fair to move on and give the reigns to some new blood who had new ideas and fresh motivation for the task. ‹gimil› Looking back, it was probably a good move for me to leave, for the foundry and my personal life!‹Victor Sullivan› It's unfortunate that you've been absent or at least only intermittently online. If you were to get back on CC on a more regular basis, what would you want to get back into? Or rather, simply, what would you do?‹gimil› I would definitely get back into some games and I would definitely make another map or two for sure.‹gimil› Maybe add to the Feudal franchise?‹gimil› We will just need to wait and see what happens, won't we?‹Victor Sullivan› Back when you were more active, what was your favorite thing to do?‹gimil› I loved to socialise. It was great to be online when a group of good guys were on.‹gimil› There would be times where I could be in here, or the foundry for (too many) hours just chatting and having a good time.‹gimil› While volunteering it was important for me to still have fun. I have witnessed a few people who became recluses after volunteering‹gimil› trying to stay out of trouble with the powers that be.‹gimil› I never wanted to be like that and made a point of enjoying myself and interacting with as many people as I could.‹Victor Sullivan› Well, I think that's all I've got, and I gotta get to work anyway. Thanks for being willing to be interviewed!‹gimil› cheers, it was a pleasure.

Relatively slim pickings for this edition of the newsletter as no viable updates for the Newcomers Cup are available at present. BK and MF will also be taking a break this issue while they are in transit dealing with rl concerns. Don't worry however as we have an extensive issue lined up for you in the 50th edition of the newsletter with Fenrir bringing in some hard-hitting journalism and the Black Knight having an in-depth look at pertinent concerns on Clan Spicing. Even jigger will most likely have a spotlight on an upcoming clan I'm sure we're interested in knowing more about.

Welcome to another update on events in the 2nd Annual Conquerors Cup. Events in the main thread revolve around the controversy surrounding medal requirements (which the first and second round Cup matches do not seem to meet) and Cup-tied players. The battles in the field are mostly all but decided, so look forward to all Round 3 starting soon even though we are actually past the start-date of 5th June.

22 vs. 17The Horseman of the Apocalypse vs. The Bullet Proof Bandits- After the Challenge thread between BPB and Thota was locked in ignominy a fortnight ago, it led to vehement disdain among the Bandits as they cursed those responsible for it. So while banter in the thread is non-existent that hasn't absolved the in-game battles from being ferocious in the extreme. With only 2 trips games left remaining, Thota should take a comfortable 24-17 victory

24 vs. 14Agents of Chaos vs. The Fantastic Four-skins- After an extremely close first round, AoC showed their depth and experience to pull out relatively comfortable winners after winning 8 to 1 since the last update. Tffs however can take heart from a strong performance in the first set, and should take series consideration of getting involved in the Clan League which should be a better test of their abilities. AoC will now face the prospect of defeating first seeded Thota in the the next round, where they'll be confident of pulling off a strong performance after being unbeaten for more than a year in all competitions. Final score for this challenge however, should be 26-15

23 vs. 16Legends of War vs. ++The Legion++- An extremely close encounter where Legion pushed the Legends all the way. The Legionnaires started strongly in the second batch before Legendary Warriors dug deep and showed the resilience that led to their Clan League Season 2 win. Legion will have restored some much-needed confidence after some disheartening performances of late, but must still be contemplating the 'what-might-have-been' in being so close, yet still so far in chasing the victories they surely deserve.With only 1 game left undecided with the other most likely going to legion, this has most definitely been a worthy encounter between 2 stalwarts clans in the CC arena.

23 vs. 15The Spanking Monkeys vs. A Fistful of Sixes- A match that has been an echo of the AoC-Tffs match on the first round performance where the score seems to have been exactly the same (and in home/away splits as well), the second round has been as similar with the Monkeys pulling ahead to the checkered flag. With challenge victory confirmed, the end games seem to be relatively even for both sides, though the Monkeys look to be just missing out on the quarter-century mark. Final Score will be 24-17

23 vs. 15Knights of the Round Table vs. Generation One- Another close battle to be decided only recently, and identical to the TSM-Afos score, Defending Champions Kort have done well to overcome the G1 they faced at the same stage of this competition last year. While that score was a bit more lopsided, G1 have shown how much they've improved by pushing Kort all the way this time around, though it still remains to be seen how much that was a result of Kort reeling from their defeat to AoC in the [url]Cl3: Semi's[/url]. Intriguingly, this seems to be the third challenge heading for a 24-17 scoreline, and if Legion can pull off 2 victories in their challenge we could have as many as half the 2nd round matches ending on the same score.

28 vs. 9Fraternal Order of Exceptional Drinkers vs. Immortal Assassins- The last of the quartet to confirm their advancement in the last week, Foed are no doubt the most impressive victors after upsetting their 6th seeded opponents. Whether it was due to subtle drops in their drinks at the Party celebrating IA's CL3: Semi-Final eventual success, or other nefarious schemes, there's no denying that Foed did extraordinarily well in IA's home games, so that the Assassins were completely unable to claw back enough in their second batch even with their renowned Fatalities. Even now Foed still seem to have the upper hand in the remaining games to put in an overwhelming display with a deserved victory. There's no time to spare for either of these teams however as Foed's Quarterfinal match will soon be starting against Kort, and IA still have to fight for the Clan League Season 3 Title. Only Chinese Checkers is left in the balance, so provisional score is currently 30-10

30 vs. 9Empire vs. Nemesis- An accomplished display by Empire saw them pull off a comfortable lead to start, and then just run away with it. In fact, if not for Game 8961819, Empire may have won every single one of their home games. So while Nemesis hark back to their Season 3: Div C woes, Empire will be confident in facing their round opponents after some formidable performances of late. Empire will also be overjoyed at again reaching the magical 30 mark, while Nemesis will be grateful to scrape away by getting into double figures. Final score should be 30-11

18 vs. 17Brethren of the Fat Mermaid vs. The Odd Fellows Union- Still the closest challenge in the 2nd round, it continues to be a humdinger of an affair in the final stages, both on the battlefield and in the forum threads. With the total view-count for this battle just recently eclipsing that set by Thota-BpB battle, we now know that Thota and Tofu are worthy holders of their seeding by being involved in entertainment both on and off the field. Indeed, with only Tofu home games left in this encounter, we also know the reason for Tofu putting some of the biggest maps into the battle (Hive/Conquerman/World 2.1/First Nations North America Quads) is for that very much dramatic appeal. With regards to the victor however, it's still anybody's game though Tofu will be hoping their slim leads in Hive and Stalingrad will hold alongside their more comfortable leads in Supermax and FNNA. Bofm for their part look to have sealed up World 2.1 and Siege and will be hoping to steal a game from tofu while consolidating their Conquerman advantage.